Reviews

Fortunately for sf aficionados, Reader¡s Chair is wending its audio way through the canon of esteemed Hugo and Nebula Award¤winning author Bujold. Hard upon the well-received release of Cetaganda comes this rendition of one of her earliest works. Ethan Urquhart is an obstetrician and chief of biology at the Severin District Reproduction Center on Athos, a planet forbidden to women. When the centuries-old cultures used to provide eggs for the uterine replicators start going south and a replacement shipment is inexplicably flawed with bogus surrogates, the Athosian Council dispatches Urquhart on a galactic quest to retrieve new ovarian tissue cultures for the survival of Athos. Along the way, he encounters twisted interplanetary political machinations, Cetagandan covert operatives, and, perhaps most disturbing, Elli Quinn, a Dendarii mercenary¢and woman. The in-house reading tandem of Michael Hanson and Carol Cowan collaborate on another professional effort. The mellifluous Hanson is dead-on as Urquhart, but Cowan comes off a little too matronly as Quinn, especially given the cybervixen graphic on the cover. The plot-driven story moves swiftly and will engage sf fans of all subgenres. Recommended for all collections.¢Barry X. Miller, Austin P.L., TX Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.